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Laboratories save time and money while rewarding practices and doctors.
When Benny and Gail Johnson of Perfect Impressions dental laboratory in Carrollton, Texas, were looking for a way to reward their regular doctors for using their services and increase payment efficiency, they found tfg Loyalty, a program offered through tfg Payment Solutions.
Relationships with practices and doctors are important to the Johnsons.
“Before Gail goes in and takes on an account, we will visit the doctor, visit the practice, get to meet everyone, and make sure that we understand what the doctor’s expectations are and what their preferences are. So we go in and build that relationship from the beginning,” Benny Johnson says. “We don’t take on just any practice—we want to make sure that it’s the right practice for us and that we’re the right lab for them. That’s all about communication.”
As a part of that key communication, the Johnsons use the tfg Loyalty program to promote retention and reward practices for their business.
tfg Payment Solutions
Created to make payments more efficient, tfg Payment Solutions is an online platform that allows practices to schedule secure payments through credit card, check, or ACH payment. Consistent, on-time payments are rewarded directly from tfg in the form of merchandise, gifts, and money, creating and fostering stronger relationships between laboratories and practices.
tfg Payment Solutions
888-430-1615 | tfgpaymentsolutions.com
“With that, we also decided that we wanted to provide a program that would say, ‘Your business means a lot to us. We appreciate your loyalty and this is our way of saying thanks,’” Benny Johnson says. “Most of our doctors have been with us for 5, 6 years, so our retention is pretty good. It’s all based on communication and how Gail and the team work with the practice.”
Practices in the loyalty program are rewarded for consistent payment with merchandise, gifts, travel, and more. The program also can be used by practitioners to treat their employees, assistants, and technicians with things such as lunches and gift cards.
The payment process works through a payment card industry (PCI)-compliant, secure, online platform. Practices can schedule payments with a credit card, check, or Automated Clearing House (ACH) electronic payment.
“It allows us, as the lab, to get paid sooner because if they pay us by the 15th of every month, whether it be a credit card or a check or an ACH, they get points and dollars toward the rewards. It really helps both parties,” Benny Johnson says.
The platform allows clinicians and practices to keep track of payments, pay faster and more efficiently, and track rewards they may have accrued from on-time payments.
“A lot of them like that. They will take that and they’ll go out and maybe get a Starbucks card or they’ll treat the team to a lunch one day,” Benny Johnson says. “It’s just a way for them to also give back to their employees or assistants and technicians.”
The company is also working on QuickBooks integration, which will boost efficiency by incorporating and sharing important information from software to software.
“That’s going to be a huge, huge help for me as far as a timesaver. With the integration and how it’s all coming together, it’s going to allow me to do it in a period of 30 minutes, versus an hour and a half, which it’s taking me to do it today,” he says. “So, they’re doing the right things by integrating the software. As a matter of fact, the next step is to link to my lab production software to transfer invoices saving even more time. After all, time is money.”
Since the Johnsons started using tfg’s Loyalty program in January 2021, about 10 doctors have set up their accounts in the loyalty and payment portals. It allows doctors who may otherwise find it difficult to remember to set payments up automatically.
“We give them opportunity to...go on a secure portal and make a payment without having to call me and give me a credit card or having to write a check and put it in the mail,” Benny Johnson says. “That’s just going to save them time, too.”
Download Issue: Dental Lab Products June 2021
